Even far from home, no swimming record is safe.
In their last competition before winter break, Penn men’s and women’s swimming both emerged victorious from the annual Total Performance Invitational Meet and broke quite a few records along the way.
The meet, which was hosted by Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, saw the Quakers face off against a competitive field of schools including Kenyon, Johns Hopkins and Carnegie Mellon.
Although Penn placed second in both of Thursday’s distance events on the women’s side, the team quickly gained momentum on day two of racing, capturing the top spot in five of the day’s eight events.
Sophomore Rochelle Dong proved vital to Penn’s second day success. In addition to helping the Quakers secure victories in both the 200 free and 400 medley relay events, the sophomore also finished first in the 50-meter freestyle, with a time of 23.06.
Two more individual events fell Penn’s way on Friday. Senior Taylor Sneed’s 2:00.72 finish in the 200 fly was good for the top spot, and sophomore Ellie Grimes broke the meet and pool records in the 400m IM with a time of 4:20.94.
Grimes was also one of three Quakers to finish atop the podium on the last day of racing, helping Penn maintain its lead through Saturday. Grimes set pool and team records in the 200m breaststroke, winning the final in a time of 2:15.99.
Dong and freshman Ryan Alexander also scored maximum points on Saturday in the 100 fly and 200m backstroke respectively, as Penn coasted to a team total victory, outpacing runner-up Kenyon, 2,635-1,574.5.
“It’s a testament to their toughness that we had girls going out there and swimming five or six events, and they kept getting faster each time,” coach Mike Schnur said. “If we continue improving at this pace and making these type of steps, then we are going to be in an excellent position a few months down the road.”
On the men’s side, the Quakers also emerged from the weekend victorious with 2,709.5 team points. However, Kenyon kept things interesting by scoring 2,462 to keep pressure on the Quakers.
The Quakers jumped out early, as junior Chris Swanson set the tone for the team by winning the meet’s opening event in dominant fashion. Swanson broke his own school record — and set meet and pool records in the process — by winning the 1650m free event in a time of 14:43.87. His time, the second fastest in the country, also put him under the NCAA Championship automatic A-cut threshold. Swanson also finish ed first in the 500m free with a time of 4:21.15 — good for new pool and meet records.
“I think you saw just how much work the guys have put in when you saw Swanson race,” Schnur said. “He has never made the A-cut, and he has never been as fast as he is now, and watching him in that race was pretty special”
Thursday also saw the men’s 800m freestyle relay A-team break the pool, meet and school records as the squad touched up in 6:31.98.
However, even a performance like this doesn’t buy the team any respite.
“We are going to get right back to work tomorrow,” Schnur said. “We have a lot of swimmers pointed towards NCAAs, and it is totally worth killing ourselves now so that we can be in a position to succeed two months down the road.
“We are going to continue to get faster, and we hope to do a lot of damage come February.”
